An imprint in time
by ironicallynameless
Summary: There's no such thing as ghosts, but ghostly alien imprints that walk the corridors of Luke, Rani and Clyde's school... well that's another thing entirely. Suggested Clyde/Rani, Luke/Maria, but unsure whether it'll be anything more than that yet.
1. Luke Smith

**So I probably shouldn't be starting another fic, when I'm already struggling to update my other one regularly, but this show has me interested at the mo, and I wanted to have a go at writing for it. Sorry if characters are OOC, never written for this show before :p **

**Anyways, hope you like it, feedback is always appreciated; if you can tell me how to improve it please do!**

**El x

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Luke smith was an extraordinary boy. He had the memory of 10,000 people, the latent telepathic ability to move the moon and an intelligence to rival a timelord's. But, in Sarah Jane's eyes this was not what made him special. What made Luke extraordinary was his natural desire to do good. Born into fire and chaos the boy of 10,000 people was different from them all because he had never known hate, and, Sarah Jane hoped, he never would.

~*~

"Where exactly do you think you're going young man?"

Luke froze mid-step and turned slowly, his guilt already written on his face. Sarah Jane stood with her arms folded; her mouth set in what she hoped was a stern line. She watched as indecision temporarily clouded her son's eyes, his gaze lowering as he chose the truth; "Up to the attic" he mumbled to the floor.

"Have you tidied your room yet?" Luke sighed and shook his head. "Go on then" Sarah Jane pointed firmly to Luke's room.

"But mum, I promised I'd have a game of chess with Rotac, it's impolite to keep him waiting."

Sarah Jane let out a small laugh, "Luke, Rotac's people wait a millennia just to catch a bus, I don't think twenty minutes is going to matter to him that much."

Seeing Luke's reluctance she walked over to him, lightly took his shoulders and frog marched him to his room, adding gently, "I'll go apologise on your behalf, the quicker you're done the quicker you can go play."

Sarah Jane turned to leave the room but stopped as Luke said, a bundle of dirty laundry in his arms, "Clyde says teenagers don't play mum, they hang out, but not the sort of hanging where you're suspended…"

Smiling as she closed the door, Sarah Jane left her son to his musings and made her way up to the attic; wondering, not for the first time, how she'd been so lucky to end up with Luke as a son.

~*~

The next morning at school Luke paced the barren tarmac alone, hands shoved deep in his pockets, head bowed as he recited the Fibonacci sequence backwards in his head .His Mum had taken him to the beach very early that morning – they'd been checking an irregular tide there – and had needed to drive up to Edinburgh as soon as they got back, so had dropped Luke of at school much earlier than usual. The rest of he school weren't due to be there for another half an hour, and the school hadn't even been unlocked but Luke was content to wait, alone with his thoughts.

Just as he got to 12586269025 Luke heard a noise from by the school doors. Looking up he saw the slight frame of a girl, dressed in uniform, pounding on the doors of the school.

Without a second thought he sprinted over to her and asked, concern clear in his voice, "Are you ok?" At this distance he noted that the girl seemed pale, her skin translucent and insubstantial-looking; Luke put it down to the thin morning mist but wondered whether, in just her light school blouse, she was cold, it was November after all.

The girl had obviously been very focused in her task because when she looked up to see Luke she seemed surprised to see him, her eyes widening in fear. Unsure what to do Luke fell back on the usual formalities and extended his hand, introducing himself with a smile. The girl merely stared at his extended hand for a few seconds before going back to her task, this time rattling the handles of the door.

Luke was thrown, as far as he understood if you extended your hand the other person would shake it, unless they were being rude, he didn't think this girl meant to be rude, but he could never be sure. Awkwardly he stopped holding out his arm and moved it to scratch the back of his neck, staring at his shoes in confusion.

"I need to get in." Luke looked up, the girl had stopped what she was doing and was now looking up at him with huge brown eyes, a single strand of mousy brown hair falling across her face.

"You can't, school doesn't open until 8:00 and even then the Caretaker's normally late, and it's only 7:47 now." Luke paused, and then showed her his watch as if to prove it.

She blinked once, her gaze never leaving his, and repeated, "But, I need to get in."

Immediately recognising a problem, and with no thought to the girl's motives, Luke set about searching his brain for a way into the school and within seconds had a solution, "You could climb up the fire escape and go in through the fire door, the Caretaker should have unlocked it already."

The girl looked Luke up and down a final time, as if trying to decide whether to believe him, and set off at a run towards the steel ladder on the side of the building. She stopped suddenly, span round and curtsied, shooting Luke a shy but dazzling smile and said, "Thank you kindly."

With that she was gone, and Luke, completely unperturbed by the strange experience, went back to reciting numbers in his head.


	2. Just a bit odd

**Part two, in how ever many hours, being ill does have it's perks.**

**Hope you like it,**

**El x**

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"I swear if Mr Randall makes me rewrite my coursework one more time, I'll stuff it down his throat!" Rani fumed as she banged down her lunch tray, and sat down head in her hands.

"Whoa, violent much," Clyde held up his hands in mock meditation pose, put on a truly terrible Japanese accent, and said, "you must learn to calm your mind, only then will you truly find the path of enlightenment young warrior." Rani said nothing, not bothering to raise her head as she gestured to him with two fingers.

Clyde just smirked, but Luke looked worried, "Is everything ok, you seem a bit stressed at the moment?"

Rani looked up and smiled warmly at Luke, "Yeah I'm fine, just tired, I've got so much homework to do at the moment, I could have really done without this rewrite."

"I could always give you a hand if you'd like, I'm sure you don't need to do much work."

Looking on at Rani and Luke with more than a little envy, Clyde offered, "Yeah I'll help too, if you want."

Rani looked up and laughed, "Have you seen your latest science mark Clyde?"

"Yeah well, that was a fluke, an off day, we had all that business with the Rallone Starfleet to sort out and I didn't get a chance to apply myself fully."

"Yeah right," Rani goaded with a smile, "more like you were too busy playing footie to give a toss about your coursework."

Clyde mimed being stabbed, "You're – killing – me," he uttered between every convulsion, before finally sliding out of his seat; after a few seconds he emerged from under the table and said in a playful voice, "Well we can't all be child genius's like Lukey here" slapping him on the back as he did so.

Luke however failed to respond, he was craning to see through the crowds of hungry students.

"Luke…Luke…anybody home in that gigantic brain of yours," Clyde asked as he waved his hand in front of Luke's face.

Luke just pushed his hand away with a small frown, before finally spotting who he was looking for. At that moment she turned to look at him, and from opposite sides of the dinner hall their eyes met. Luke raised his hand to wave, a small smile replacing his frown. Typically it was this moment that a rather large year nine walked through his line of vision, and when he had eventually moved, the girl was gone.

"Who you waving to?" Clyde asked the curiosity apparent on his face.

Luke turned his attention back to his friends, "What, oh, no one, just a girl."

"A girl! Wahey! Get in my son! Go on then, who is she, what year, is she fit, what's her name?" Clyde fired question after question at Luke as he too now craned to see this mysterious girl. Even Rani's interest was sparked and she swivelled in her seat to try and spot her.

A faint blush tinged Luke's cheeks, knowing Clyde far to well to misunderstand what he was asking, "It's nothing like that, I just met her this morning and she seemed lost, I think she's new, I just wanted to know if she was ok."

"I wouldn't worry about her," Rani reassured, swivelling back to face Luke, "The school's got that whole buddying system, actually one of my dad's better ideas, she'll be settled in no time."

Luke nodded and resigned to picking at his lumpy beef hotpot, finally muttering, "She just seemed a bit odd, that's all."

"She's probably moved from the country, they're all a bit weird out there." Clyde smirked, offering a bag of crisps around.

"Clyde!" Rani exclaimed, "You can't say that, you racist pig." The gin on her face showed she wasn't really surprised, but she flicked her peas at him to show her disapproval anyway.

"Nope it's not racist, coz they're not a different race," Clyde retorted sticking out his tongue immaturely and chucking his crisp crumbs at Rani.

The squabbling continued, and though Luke laughed and joked with his friends, he couldn't get the image of the girl's huge brown eyes and the desperation in them out of his head.

~*~

"We're home Mum!"

"I'm in the attic" Sarah Jane shouted back and the three teens climbed the stairs to meet her.

Upon entering the room they were met with the sight of Sarah Jane furiously typing at her computer, with Mr Smith open and processing information at lightning speed.

"Why is Mr Smith tracking a shuttle's route away from Earth," Luke asked after studying the text on Mr Smith's screen for a few seconds.

Sarah Jane didn't look up from her computer, signalling to Luke she would be with him in a minute, before ushering the three of them onto the recently acquired sofa. A few swift taps on the keyboard and Sarah Jane finished with a satisfied sigh and took off her glasses, before spinning to face her young friends and silently offering them a drink.

She ran her hand through her hair, "Mr Smith is just checking that our friend the Peluvian makes it safely out of our solar system," she added with a wry smile, "and doesn't decide to make another visit."

"Peluvian?" Clyde asked.

While Rani said, "I take it Edinburgh was a success then."

"Err, Peluvian," Sarah Jane hesitated searching for the words to describe the bizarre alien, "Think imp covered in seaweed and you're somewhere close. They're harmless, but well known for causing mischief. This one was causing mayhem in Edinburgh, almost cut off electricity in half the city at one point, but thankfully a few encouraging words and the sight of my lipstick sent him packing. And I've put the whole think to a drunk festival performer who hadn't realised the Festival Fringe was over – I think they'll buy it."

The teens exchanged smiles; it was all so mundane for Sarah Jane.

"Anyway," she clapped her hands and slipped naturally into mother-mode, "How were your days?"

"Luke's got himself a girlfriend." Clyde state ruefully, smirking at his friend.

Sarah Jane raised her eyebrows and looked to her son for confirmation.

"I do not have a girlfriend," Luke sighed, quite used to his friend's tendency to over exaggerate, "I just helped this girl this morning before school and looked out for her at lunch to check she was ok, she seemed a little strange."

Sarah Jane smiled at her son's typical courteous behaviour, but became more interested as he finished his sentence – strange was what she did, "strange how Luke?" she asked, her tone a little more concerned than before.

"Just, not like other kids, she wouldn't shake my hands, and she was trying to get into school early and she looked sort of scared, and-"

"You didn't tell us any of this at lunch," Rani interrupted leaning forward, her interested captured.

"Well, it didn't really seem that significant at the time, but, I don't know I've just been going over it and it seems a bit odd, there were other things, like she seemed sort of translucent and I put it down to mist but there wasn't really any," suddenly Luke snapped his head up to look at Sarah Jane, "Do people still curtsey?"

Rani and Clyde laughed, and Clyde answered, with a cliché posh accent, "Only if one is meeting the queen." He stopped when he saw the look on Sarah Jane's face, "Oh come on, you don't think Luke's mysterious girl is something to do with aliens do you?"

"I don't know Clyde, I really don't know, but I know I'd like you all to keep an eye out for her, and I might do a little digging through the school files, I'm sure your dad wouldn't mind," she said winking at Rani.

And with that the matter was closed, and the afternoon was spent doing all the mundane chores of ordinary life, with very little talk of aliens at all.


	3. Confusion in many parts

**I wrote this out once, only to have my laptop wiped by some virus :/ anyways different computer and I'm all done. Sorry for the crappy dialogue in the middle, it got late and I couldn't think of anything better to write and thought no update was worse than bad update. So yup, hope you like it, thank you to my two reviewers, they are very appreciated (can something be very appreciated, very much appreciated maybe?...meh) and I'm glad you think I can write Clyde well, maybe we're just very similar... or not. As ever reviews are nice :)**

**El x**

**Disclaimer (I forgot this twice): None of dis stuff is mine yeah, and I ain't never trying to say it is 'ite? Some like proper mint peeps 'ave like writted it and I is not even like saying I did writ it, you got me, so don't none of you go saying I is coz I ain't yeah?

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"Hi Maria." Luke grinned down the phone.

"Hey Luke, how are you?" The voice that Luke had so longed to hear crackled down the phone, an American tinge even after such a short time.

"I'm fine thanks, how are you?" This was how all their conversations started, a formal habit that neither of them could break.

"I'm good thanks, err-"

"-I've got a while before I have to go to school and I was wondering if you wanted to go on web cam. Mum's got some new alien tech I want to show and you still haven't told me how New York was..." Luke petered to a stop as he got the distinct impression that Maria was somewhat distracted.

"Oh, wow, I'd love to see the new tech, and New York was amazing, I'll have to send you the photos, but-"

"-Come on Maria, we're gonna be late." The nasal American drawl startled Luke and he pulled the phone from his ear and blinked at it for a few seconds, as if he couldn't quite comprehend what he'd just heard. When he got over the shock he put the phone back to his ear in time to hear Maria giggling and saying to the disembodied voice, "Shh, I'll be there in a minute, I'm just talking to an old friend" aware that she hadn't heard from Luke in so many minutes she turned her attention back to him and asked, "Luke, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here" he replied robotically, trying to come to terms with the fact he had been demoted to _just_ an _old _friend.

"Sorry Luke, I'm just about to go to the cinema with some friends - we're going to see a new sci-fi, it's s'posed to be good, but I'll bet it'll be nothing compared to what we've seen," Luke could just imagine Maria winking conspiratorially and despite his addled state can't help but smile at the picture, "- anyway Jake's getting impatient so I've gotta go, but I'll speak to you soon yeah?"

Luke was so flummoxed by his sudden utter loathing for this Jake character; a completely irrational feeling as he'd never met him before, that he could only utter, "Yeah, ok then, have a good time."

"Thanks, I will, speak to you soon, bye."

"Bye Maria." Luke murmured to the dial tone.

There was a prickling sensation behind Luke's eyes and he felt both feverous and freezing at the same time, he wondered whether he was ill, but knew better than that. Normally when human feelings confused Luke he'd ask Mr Smith; like that time when he'd felt 'sick' – Mr Smith said even a superior beings stomach would churn after eating an entire 500g chocolate bar washed down with a bottle of coke, Clyde couldn't believe Luke had never felt sick before and had told him the only way to cure it was to keep eating – yet another occasion where Luke had scolded himself for forgetting the golden rule – never believe Clyde. This time however the pain was a different sort of pain, less simple than a protesting stomach and much deeper than he could explain to Mr Smith, or even his mum. He got the feeling that this was something he'd have to figure out on his own.

~*~

If Rani or Clyde noticed anything unusual about Luke's behaviour they didn't say anything. Instead Clyde spent the entire walk to school trying to learn his French verbs for a test. Or rather, he spent the entire walk amusing his friends by his abysmal pronunciation, and utter lack of knowledge of a single verb.

"Ok, Ok an easy one, what is the verb for 'to go'?"

"That is easy, I zink ze French zay would say, to goé."

"Clyde for the last time, you can't just stick an 'ay' on the end of it, come on you really need to not flunk this test." Though Rani was smiling as she said this, there was real concern in her voice, she knew as well as Clyde that for all the jokes and the fooling about, grades did mean something to him, and he wanted to do well.

"Alright, alright, one more."

"To eat,"

"I think that... je voudrais manger une hamburger!"

"Finally!" Rani laughed, "I should have known, nothing gets through that thick skull of yours like food."

"Yes," Clyde actually punched the air in his excitement, before returning to his role as the fool, putting on his appalling accent and continuing, "I will be le French man yet, and I will mange le baguettes and playé le accordion and kissé all of ze girls… Talking of girls, what does your girlfriend actually look like Luke, if we're s'posed to be looking out for her n'all?"

Luke, who had been trailing behind, looked up, dragged from his reverie and replied, "Err well she had long brown hair tied up in a high ponytail, brown eyes, small, slim, sort of pale looking, small feet-"

"Small feet?" Rani interrupted.

"Yeah," Luke answered hesitantly, worried he might have made 'one of those' mistakes again.

"How come you noticed her feet?"

"I just did, why wouldn't you notice someone's feet?"

"Coz they're on the ground , you don't exactly walk around looking at the ground do you," Clyde stopped and looked over his shoulder, where Luke had resumed his slow pace, his head lowered in thought, "I stand corrected."

Rani laughed and hooked her arm through Luke's, "Come on you, get out of there," she tapped him on the head, "and join us in the real world."

"Sorry." Look smiled apologetically, aware he'd neglected his friends.

"No worries mate," Clyde by this time had sidled over and slipped his arm in into Rani's, "with a brain that size, who wouldn't spend all their time lost in it.

There was a moment of silence as the friends thought slipped back into their own thoughts, which was broken when Rani said, "You know I really feel like we should be skipping and singing about how we're gonna find the wizard."

"Wizard, because…?" Luke asked.

"Nah Oz mate." Clyde replied and the three burst out laughing.

~*~

Luke finally found her at lunch. He'd had a further maths lesson and was on his way to find Clyde and Rani when he saw her, sat on a bench alone. Partly because his Mum wanted information and partly because he knew what it felt like to be out of your depth in a new school, he went and sat next to her.

"Hello again." Luke greeted her awkwardly, still finding socialising without Clyde difficult at best.

"Hello." The girl replied, which was, Luke thought, better than last time.

He paused unsure of what to ask next, when she spoke first, "Do you know where my father is?"

Luke was momentarily confused and then understood and replied, "Oh, is he one of the teacher's, what does he teach?"

"His name is Theodore Harlington." The girl stated, looking up at him with those huge round eyes.

"Mr Harlington, erm I'm not sure if I know him, I could take you to the staff-"

"Luke!" Clyde called at him from the end of the corridor and Luke waved him over, saying, "Hi, just give me one second," Luke paused, "Well actually it will be more than that but," he shook his head determined not to get distracted by another ambiguous saying.

He turned from Clyde and back to the girl, "Sorry about that, like I said I can take you-"

"Luke?" Clyde was looking at his friend with concern on his face, "look I know I never went over it, thought it was obvious to be honest, but talking to imaginary friends really ain't up there on the whole 'cool' list."

It was Luke's turn to look bemused, "What are you talking about Clyde, what's an imaginary friend?"

"Imaginary as in not there, as in you sat on a bench talking to yourself looks plain cuckoo, yeah?"

"But I'm not talking to no one I'm talking to," Luke lowered his voice and gestured subtly to the girl next to him, "_the girl_."

Clyde stopped and blinked, before peering round Luke and saying "Luke mate," fear now creeping into his voice, "there's no one there."


	4. CRAZY PERSON

**Really not much to say. Erm there's quite a few references to episodes in here, so I dunno what the airing is like in other countries, but it shouldn't give anything away if you haven't see the episodes, you just not might get what I'm going on about. I really don't like this chapter, it think it's all over the place, but I have rewritten it sooooo many times, and I just want to get on with it, so this'll have to do. If you can write better or improve it in anyway please feel free to review/message me – t'is always appreciated.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own it. I never will. Life sucks like that.**

**El x

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If it had been anyone else Clyde would have been suspicious, but he didn't think Luke understood the meaning of 'winding someone up'.

Luke on the other hand was much more suspicious. He wasn't born yesterday, and this was Clyde. "You really can't see anything?" He asked, brow furrowed as he tried to read his friend's face.

"I can't see anyone sitting next to you Luke." Clyde replied, sincerity in his voice that even the most distrustful would find hard to doubt.

Luke's brow smoothed and he physically relaxed, "Okay then." His now calm tone frustrating Clyde.

"No it's not okay Luke, you're seeing people that aren't there!" Two year seven girls turned at Clyde's raised voice, before walking away giggling. Clyde tried again, in a hushed voice, "Seeing things that aren't there isn't normal Luke, it's weird, it's...crazy" Clyde glanced worriedly at Luke as he said it, but he remained unperturbed, giving up trying to convince Luke of his insanity Clyde decided reinforcements were needed, "Look, let's go find Rani, ask her what she thinks yeah?"

Luke nodded and got up to leave, before suddenly realising something and, from what Clyde could see, leaning down and saying to thin air, "I've got to go somewhere now, will you stay here until I come back, and then I'll help you find your dad?" Clyde checked the corridor furtively, he did have an image to keep, and friend-of-a-lunatic was not the look he was going for.

The thing; Clyde shook his head and corrected himself; Luke's mind must have answered in the affirmative because Luke stood up and gestured for them to go. As they walked Clyde questioned ,"Find her dad?"

"Yes, she says she's looking for him, Mr Harlington, have you heard of him?"

Clyde shook his head, the more intelligent side of his brain telling him that if this all was a figment of Luke's imagination someone searching for a father figure was rather apt. This part of his brain was effectively shushed by the larger, dominant side that was screaming "CRAZY PERSON" very loudly.

~*~

Rani laughed when they told her.

She'd been in this alien game long enough to suspect everything abnormal, but she'd also known boys for most of her life, and this was the oldest trick in the book.

It was only when she saw that glimpse of fear in Clyde's eyes that she started paying attention. Unfortunately Rani agreed with Clyde, Luke had been overdoing it, said himself he was tired, was working himself to death, but was definitely not conversing with an invisible girl.

Luke's trademark creased brow appeared upon hearing this, "But why is it so hard to believe that there's someone – something," Luke corrected after a stern look from Clyde, "that you can't see, we've dealt with invisibility before."

"Yeah but you couldn't see Kaagh either, how come only you can see this girl?"

"We don't know that only I can see her, at the moment all we know is that_ you_ can't see her,"

"Or she's not there." Clyde muttered.

Luke continued regardless, "Anyway it wouldn't be the first time that it's been just me that can do something, maybe it's because I don't have a star sign,"

"Oh please don't tell me this is the ancient lights again," Clyde grimaced, he still shuddered every time he was told to sit down.

"No, I don't think so, but I'm just saying, it might just be me, but that's not that strange, it makes more sense than me just making it up."

Ever the diplomat Rani interjected, "We're not saying you're making it up Luke, it's just hard for us to understand something we can't see."

"Spellman." Was all Luke needed to reply.

Rani and Clyde gave up, the two of them had slowly gotten over the initial shock of it and were prepared to see Luke's side of the story finally.

"So we're talking alien," Clyde stated, "Dangerous?"

Luke shook his head, "I don't think so, she's just a girl, and she's in uniform and everything."

"Oh yeah cause we've always gotten on so well with aliens in school kid disguise" Clyde remarked dryly.

The comment was lost on Rani, one of the adventures she hadn't been told about yet, but she agreed with Clyde, "He's right you know," she resisted the urge to add 'surprisingly', "we can't decided anything until we know more about it, but it hasn't done anything yet so I reckon we're probably safe for now."

"So what do we do?" Luke asked, resignation already in his voice.

"Sarah Jane." came the answer in unison.

Luke sighed, it was expected, was what he'd already decided, but for once he'd hoped that they could encounter an alien completely peacefully, without calling in his mum for back up. Even when he'd realised that Clyde really couldn't see the girl, he'd hoped that he could help her, send her on her way and not have to bother Sarah Jane at all. But no, she probably was a crazed psychopath of an alien, hell-bent on destroying the world...they always were.


	5. Behind the eyes

**Hey, so not such a long wait for the update, though can't promise to be any quicker any time soon. Just realised the time difference in a previous chapter doesn't make sense, please ignore it, got my ahead seven hours, behind seven hours confused. The whole Luke thing got a little more brooding than I meant it to, but I just think they skimmed over that whole area too quickly in the series. Anyways here it is, as ever please R&R and thanks to everybody who has already, they're really lovely. **

**El x

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"Sarah Jane, we got an alien at school… again" Clyde yelled by way of greeting, climbing the stairs to the attic closely followed by Luke and Rani.

After persuading a protesting Luke not to return to the mysterious girl the school day had passed uneventfully, and had ended, as always, with the three of them trekking back to Sarah Jane's house.

Sarah Jane took one last longing look at the article on 'interplanetary communications' and got to her feet to meet the teens.

"Our mysterious girl, I presume," she sighed unintentionally. Alien did not bother her, alien was really quite normal, however this time she'd hoped with all her heart that normal would be … just a bit more normal. She'd hoped that this girl was just another shy newcomer, who, perhaps, could take her brooding son's mind off a certain brown eyed neighbour – or rather, ex-neighbour. Glancing at her adopted son, she met his eyes, and though he smiled, genuinely happy to see his mother, there was a sadness behind them that pained her because she knew she could not cure it.

Beckoning them to the sofa the group sat heavily, fitting on to the battered seat if they squashed close together enough. Sarah Jane put an arm around Luke, and he laid his head on her shoulder, looking every bit the world weary traveller, and still barely a year old.

"What happened?"

The story was recounted mostly by Clyde, with input from Rani, and, occasionally, a mumble from Luke when he felt the account was becoming a little biased.

When finished the expression on Sarah Jane's face was much more concerned and she said delicately "Luke, I'd like to let Mr Smith do a few scans, just to make sure you're alright."

Luke frowned, a little put out at having his sanity doubted, "I'm not crazy Mum."

"I know love, but you are tired," she gestured to the yawn that Luke had failed to stifle, and put out a commanding hand as he made to protest, "We need to approach this scientifically Luke, the sooner we can definitely disprove one theory the sooner we can find an answer."

Luke couldn't say no to science and obediently stood as Mr Smith's blue light passed over his body.

"Scanning complete Sarah Jane, all bodily functions as normal, a slight lack of iron in the blood but brain activity does not indicate any mental health problems."

"Thank you Mr. Smith," Sarah Jane said out loud while silently musing over whether she'd actually be able to cook a steak after all these years – perhaps iron tablets would do instead.

Luke couldn't help the triumphant look on his face as Mr Smith confirmed what he'd known all along – he wasn't crazy.

"Ok, so now we know that Luke's not crazy, why is he the only one who can see this girl?" Rani interrupted the silent "told you so" that was being exchanged between the two boys.

"We still don't know that I'm the only one who can see her." Luke replied evenly, "Maybe it's Clyde who's the only one who _can't_ see her."

"Oh yeah, out of us two it's more likely to be me that's weird, not Mr-mind-of-a-thousand-people-created-by-squiddy-aliens-and-never-born," Clyde said a little insensitively, he'd never dealt with 'I told you so' well, "besides, we _do_ know other people can't see it, 'cause those girls today couldn't see it could they?"

The frown reappeared, and Luke had to confirm that the girls couldn't see her either.

Sarah Jane, emerging from her musings about how to get more iron into her son sensed the teen tension in the room and briskly took control of the situation. "You know what the best way to solve a situation like this is?"

Rani shook her head, and Luke was only stopped from showing off his knowledge of language and explaining that his mum's question had been rhetorical when she continued "Ask."

"Who, Jeeves?" Clyde couldn't resist, having gotten over his sulking he was on top wise-cracking form.

"Yeah, Clyde, lets just type 'I can see invisible girls' into a search engine I'm sure that'll be productive" Rani teased with a smile on her face, which provoked a withering smile from Clyde.

Luke was a little more impatient and said, "Ask who mum?"

"The girl," she replied simply, "Though we can't really ask her during the school day…"

Clyde liked where this was heading, "Do I hear the words 'school' and 'break in' Sarah Jane?"

"Yes Clyde, I think you do." Sarah Jane grinned, "But I think I'm right in saying that a certain someone has an English essay in for tomorrow, so we'll postpone it until tomorrow, ok?" She wasn't the adventure-crazed woman she used to be, nowadays schoolwork came before excitement.

Clyde moaned of course, "Aww Sarah Jane, it's just some dumb Hamlet essay, I'm sure Ms. Hodge wouldn't mind if she knew it was a matter of saving the planet."

"This time Clyde, saving the planet can wait, let's save those grades first, yeah?"

Clyde knew better than to protest, and sulkily said his goodbyes before heading for home. Rani made to go soon after, saying to Luke when Sarah Jane's back was turned, "Get some sleep Luke," nodding to his mum, "she's worried about you, we all are." Luke smiled reassuringly and Rani squeezed his hand before thanking Sarah Jane for the book on journalism she was borrowing and leaving.

When everyone had gone Sarah Jane and Luke shared a rare meal alone together and Luke did everything he could to reassure his mum he was ok, joking, and chatting about teachers, asking her about her travels and not mentioning distant friends once. And for one evening Sarah Jane ignored the sadness behind his eyes, and the look on his face when he thought she wasn't looking, and just enjoyed the company of her son.

~*~

In the dappled moonlight of the corridors of Park Vale High School a translucent figure paced the corridors. Where eerie silence and ethereal half light rubbed away the impurities of the day; when inane chatter gave way to silence and the school became nothing more but a cold shell, she paced. Just like every night, from yesterday to yesteryear, for so long that the beginning was lost to a never-ending middle and an unforeseeable end, she paced. With nothing more than a pressing need to find him, she paced.

But tonight, as she passed through a certain corridor the memory of a boy who saw her and didn't return stopped her, she turned to face an empty seat, paused, and paced again.

~*~

Passing Luke's room as she went up to bed she saw the glow of light through the cracks in the doorframe. Pushing the door open gently she saw Luke sat on his bed frowning over a book on 'quantum mechanics'. Her entrance snapped him from his reverie and he looked up and smiled a small smile.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked, arms wrapped around herself as she stood in the doorway, her ragged dressing gown enveloping her small frame.

He only shook his head by way of reply, an almost apologetic expression on his face.

"Call her, it's not too late" she said, nodding her head towards the phone in the hall.

"Are you sure?" he asked, a light now shining in his eyes.

She nodded her head with a resigned smile; and watched as his whole form rose with the hope of it.

"I won't be long" he said as he dashed out his room, stopping to peck her on the cheek as he darted past.

And Sarah Jane knew that she'd pay every ridiculously large transatlantic phone bill just to see that light return for good.


	6. Night time wanderings

**So it's a bit short, but shorter's better than nothing right? Thank you again for all the reviews they make me so happy, and one can never get enough, *wink**wink**nudge**nudge**cough**cough* HINT HINT I'll try and update sometime soon, but no promises. Oh and the special guest appearance at the end is dedicated to Rebecca – best I could do. **

**El x

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**

"We need a theme tune." Clyde broke the silence of the dim corridor.

"What?!" Rani asked incredulously

"We need a theme tune, James bond's got one, the pink panther's got one, even Scooby Doo's got one. Every good crime fighting team needs a theme tune."

"Since when were we a crime fighting team?" Sarah Jane asked playfully, happy to join the conversation, if she was honest the quiet of the deserted school had been getting to her.

"'course we're a crime fighting team," Clyde said, when faced with blank looks he explained slowly as if talking to small children, "you're the sensible leader, Luke's the brainbox, Rani's the good looking girl," he paused; suddenly aware he might have given too much away. Rani blushed but said nothing, and Clyde quickly recovered, "and I'm the handsome, intelligent witty, popular, cool, funny…"

"Modest one?" Luke finished dryly.

Clyde feigned astonishment, "Luke, did you actually just use sarcasm… correctly?"

Sarah Jane smiled at the look of pride on Luke's face and replied for him, "I think you'll find my son's becoming quite the comic, better watch it Clyde, he'll have your job next" she teased.

Clyde glanced sideways at Luke before responding, "Nahh", prompting an elbow in the ribs from Luke.

Rani moved between the two boys, knowing how easily an all out wrestling match could develop. Placing an arm around each of their shoulders she waved her torch to illuminate the path ahead of them, and asked, "So Luke, any signs of our mystery girl yet?"

Luke shook his head, but mused aloud, "We should really stop calling her the 'mystery girl' it makes her sound like a consolation prize on some cheesy game show."

Sarah Jane was momentarily startled by Luke's knowledge of popular culture, then thought back to the number of days he'd spent watching daytime TV – he seemed to have a particular obsession with the soaps… Stopping herself before she went off on one in her head she suggested, "Well, why don't we give her a name?"

"Jemima."

"Rosie"

"Mari-"

Luke stopped himself before he said it, but it was obvious to all what the first girls' name that had come into his head was. To cover the awkward silence Sarah Jane made a suggestion of her own, "How about April?"

April was agreed on and the team descended into silence as they climbed the stairs to the humanities block.

Suddenly as they passed the open door of a classroom Luke stopped. The others looked to him expectantly and he explained, in a hushed tone, "I heard something, in that room" he gestured to the empty classroom.

They slowly made their way into the darkness of the room, where a single murky window let in a strained shaft of moonlight.

"Let there be light" Clyde muttered as he reached for the light switch.

The group blinked in the sudden brightness and waited for their retinas to adapt. Sarah Jane looked around her quickly asking as she did so, "Can you see anything Luke?"

"No, no I don't think anyone's here."

The group jumped simultaneously as they all heard a loud clunk, spinning to face the direction of the noise Sarah Jane relaxed, "Just the pipes."

"Yeah, 'course, I knew that," Clyde grinned nervously, all too aware that he had jumped the highest of the four of them.

Sarah Jane sighed, "It's getting late, perhaps we should leave it for tonight."

Rani jumped in, "We haven't even been in the English department yet, let's look a while longer, we may as well no-"

"-Hello?"

The team froze; silent sideway glances between them confirming that none of them was crazy. There was definitely someone there. Sarah Jane put a finger to her lips, obviously hoping that whoever it was wouldn't notice them. Clyde shook his head and pointed to the light above them, the light that was illuminating their hiding place for all to see.

"Who's there?" the initial anxiety was gone and a commanding tone accompanied the brisk footsteps. A commanding tone that was all too familiar.

"Dad?" Rani mouthed and then closed her eyes tight in anticipation of the trouble she'd be in and let out a silent groan.

Clyde looked from her anguished expression to the worried looks that Luke and Sarah Jane were sharing and made a snap decision. Walking to the door he took a deep breath, casually flicked of the light switched and jauntily walked out of the room.

"Cl-" Rani began before she was stopped by Sarah Jane's hand clamping over her mouth. Sarah Jane wasn't exactly sure what Clyde was doing but she trusted him. Slowly she removed her hand from Rani's mouth, placed a finger to her lips and motioned for them to listen.

Turning to face Haresh Chandra he said in a casual tone, "Evening sir, lovely night for a wander ain't it?"

Mr Chandra looked up, irate, "Langer!"


	7. Taking one for the team

**New day, new chapter, pretty good huh? You know I'm not one of those people that threatens to not update until I get a certain amount of reviews, but this stands as proof that reviews make me write quicker, so you know what to do :P Shortest yet, but the cliff-hanger was just too good to miss – 'coz I'm evil like that.**

**El x

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**

Still facing his head teacher Clyde began to walk backwards, luring a rapidly more infuriated Haresh away from the room the rest of his team were in.

"Gah, you caught me sir, but can you actually catch me, what with all those pizzas, maybe not huh?" Clyde jeered, fully aware that any chance of him ever being able to ask Mr Chandra for his permission to date Rani was swiftly going out the proverbial window. He almost stopped, so startled by his own thoughts – date Rani, where had that come from?

The sudden close proximity of Rani's dad brought him back down to earth and he turned away from him and began sprinting for real. As his breath came in ragged breaths and he cursed himself for every curry he'd ever eaten he began to regret his rash, self-sacrificial decision. There was taking one for the team, but this was taking the biscuit.

~*~

After Clyde and Hareshes' footsteps had finally died away a heated discussion had ensued over what should be the next move. Rani insisted that they should go and find Clyde and explain to her dad, "Explain that we're looking for an invisible girl?" had been Luke's reaction. Sarah Jane had paced and berated herself for ever introducing the kids into such a foolhardy scheme, and had then been swiftly reassured by Rani and Luke that that wasn't true. Eventually it was decided that rather than let Clyde's sacrifice go to waste they would carry on looking for April, and deal with whatever punishment Clyde received tomorrow.

They continued through the school much more stealthily than before, stopping at the smallest of sounds. It was in fact a direct result of one of these noises that lead them to find her a last. As they walked down the main corridor Rani had heard a tree branch scrape along a window in a smaller adjoining corridor, swinging the beam of her torch to investigate she had illuminated, in plain view – for Luke at least – a small girl walking intently with her back to them.

"I can see her." Luke whispered, causing Rani and Sarah Jane to peer blindly into the space that Luke was staring. Rani could see nothing, but Sarah Jane could just perceive a vague form appearing and disappearing as she lost concentration.

Slowly, as not to startle her, Luke walked to catch up with the girl. When at her side he said, in a voice that conveyed more confidence than he felt, "Hello?"

April stopped, and turned her big orb-like eyes to Luke before repeating, "Hello."

Suddenly aware of how he towered over her, Luke knelt on one knee and questioned, "My name is Luke. We met earlier, do you remember me?"

The girl nodded slowly, and then her brow creased, "You didn't return."

A similar frown appeared on Luke's forehead, "Yes I know I'm sorry."

Rani, quickly becoming infuriated by the one sided conversation, had had enough, "What's happening?" she hissed.

Luke turned from where he was crouched, "She remembers me, seems pretty upset that I didn't go back to her at lunch," he paused then added, "I told you it was rude."

In an attempt to prevent the inevitable bickering Sarah Jane stepped in, "I'm going to scan her so we know what we're dealing with, where do I need to point this thing?"

Luke gestured to the girl and Sarah Jane waved her wristwatch in that general direction.

"What is that?" The girl's question took Luke by surprise and he answered without thinking, "A watch scanner." This answer didn't seem to faze the girl as she simply nodded with calm serenity.

Luke looked up as he heard Sarah Jane muttering. "Can't be right…must be losing its batteries…stupid unreliable piece of…" as she began hitting the scanner against the wall, Rani was prompted to ask, "What is it, what's wrong?"

Taking a final reading Sarah Jane seemed resigned to accept the information and replied bewilderedly, "It says she's human."


	8. Truce?

**So it's quite a quick update, but not very much, and not very satisfying. However... I got a job! Which means less updates for you, but more money for me ;P Can't promise I'll update soon but here's a bit of an exploration into the weird thing of Clyde and Haresh to appease you while you wait, sorta like bread when you go out for dinner. Here have some bread. **

**El x **

**(N.B I very highly doubt that Hareshes' (is this written right?) car is a BMW but it is actually the only car I know, please fell free to correct me.)**

* * *

As Clyde was being frogmarched across the car park he suddenly had a horrible thought. The car. Sarah Jane's car was parked in full view round the other side of the building, it wouldn't take much for Mr Chandra to notice, and, with such a unique car, wouldn't take much for him to realise whose it was. Deciding it was unlikely he could be in much more trouble he shook himself free from his captors grip and sprinted towards Mr Chandra's sleek BMW. Reaching it in very little time he began circling the car and taunting Haresh, "Nice car, _sir_. Where d'ya get the money for that _sir_? Skimping on school dinner funds, _sir?_" Clyde's voice rose in spitefulness with every question, and he felt himself slipping back into someone he didn't want to be.

Suddenly he was shoved back against the door of the car, a strong arm against his chest, and heavy breathing in his ear. "SHUT," Haresh paused, taking a second to regain control, and continued in a quiet voice, "up."

Clyde was physically unable to speak, whether from the immense shock of it, or the arm still uncomfortably tight to his chest. Looking into Mr Chandra's eyes in the moonlight he saw something he was not expecting to see, concern.

"What's all this about?" Haresh questioned in a soft voice.

Clyde struggled against the arm that was holding him, but his teacher remained strong and merely raised an eyebrow as if to say, _'when I get an answer'_.

Clyde sighed, suddenly uncomfortable at Mr Chandra's shift in tone. Aggression he could deal with, soppy stuff… that was for girls and wimps.

"What's all what about sir" he asked flippantly, a vain attempt at swinging things back into his comfort zone.

Haresh stayed mute, but the eyebrow rose again.

Clyde was suddenly confronted with the urge to tell him everything, spill the whole dam story, explain that for once in his life he'd _not_ been doing something wrong. He knew he couldn't of course, but he decided not to insult the head with some feeble excuse.

Sighing and unable to believe he was doing this, Clyde raised his hands in a sign of goodwill and said, "I can't tell you, I really wish I could but I can't" he paused to gage the reaction and carried on quickly, "it's not illegal, or wrong or against any rules… except the whole breaking in one… and it hasn't hurt anyone, or is gonna hurt anyone, and it's not cheating or lying or bad. I just, can't tell you, and," Clyde's voice was little more than a murmur, "I'm sorry."

And then Haresh didn't something truly extraordinary. He believed him.

Nodding his head he released his grip and ushered Clyde into the car. They drove to Clyde's house in silence, an almost companionable silence that would have been broken if either said a word. As they pulled up to the orange glow of Clyde's drive. Haresh stopped the car but didn't move to get out. Instead he turned to Clyde and said, "I want to see better grades, not amazing grades, but the grades you're really capable of. And I want you in my office every Wednesday afternoon for a month."

Clyde thought about a witty comeback, opened his mouth, but, for once, stopped himself and simply nodded.

With that the pair got out of the car, Haresh walked Clyde to his door, and explained to an unfazed Carla that he had offered to drop Clyde home for Sarah Jane as she was low on petrol. Perfectly satisfied Carla put a loving arm round her son – that for once wasn't shrugged off, Luke must be rubbing off on him – and thanked the head teacher for his kindness. As the Langer household door closed Haresh paused for a moment to reflect on an interchange that he very much doubted would ever be spoken of again, and came to the conclusion, that he was quite happy for it to stay that way.


	9. Just take my hand

**So I'm going with the mantra of short regular updates. I can just about squeeze in a bit of writing most evenings, and I figure a little more often is better? Please tell me if not. So, here it is, not really bread, but more a French course at dinner, small, but there's plenty more to come ;D Please R&R, I love your comments so much, they make me very happy :D**

**El x

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**

"Human?" Rani repeated, as if asking again would produce a more satisfying answer.

"Yes" Sarah Jane sighed exasperatedly, running one hand through her hair as she flipped down the scanner of her watch and frowned at the time. "Look, it's too late to do anything tonight, let's go home-"

"-No." Luke's voice broke through a little more forcefully than he had meant it to, even from his height; looking up at Sarah Jane there was a determination in his eyes that commanded authority. He softened, pleading with his mum's emotions, "She needs our help mum, especially if she's really human. We need to sort this out now, and we need Mr Smith's help, so," he muttered the last part, afraid of his mother's reaction, "we're gonna have to bring her home."

"Luke we can't, it's not safe, we don't know what we're dealing with-"

Rani cut in, "Which is all the more reason to take her to Mr Smith." Rani took tentative steps to stand beside Luke, trying her best to avoid something se couldn't see, and stood there, arms folded defiantly.

Sarah Jane looked defeated, understanding their reasoning, but still reluctant to bring anything that had the potential to harm her family into the house, clutching at straws she said, "She may not even come."

Luke looked back to the girl, who had been half following the conversation with that same serene look on her face, "Will you come with us, back to our house?"

The girl frowned, "Away from here?"

"Yes" Luke replied softly, willing the girl to agree.

Her eyes widened in panic and she looked about her as though the very walls were about to be snatched away from her. Luke sensed her fear and, without thinking took her hand. It was a bizarre sensation, neither cool nor warm; like a magnetic force, physical enough to feel, but difficult to believe actually there.

Looking deep into her wide brown eyes Luke soothed, "We'll help you find your father, we'll make everything better, I promise."

For a moment the girl looked to accept, but she suddenly closed here eyes and murmured, the fear so strong even Sarah Jane could sense it, "Outside?"

Luke wouldn't give up, "I'll protect you, from everything out there, you'll be safe, just hold my hand."

And whether it was the exhaustion of decades of wandering, or the overwhelming feeling of safety that she felt as her hand felt warm in his, but slowly, fearfully, she nodded her head. Luke smiled a great reassuring smile and looked up at his mum, "She's coming with us."

Sarah Jane smiled weakly back, praying that this time her son would be right to be so trusting.


	10. Far too late

**Hello again, chapter 10, and a little more explanation hopefully. Took **_**crytears**_** much appreciated advice and got myself a Beta, so can I take the opportunity to thank **_**scribblechacha **_**for their help on this chapter and the rest of the fic =D Anyways on with the show, hope you like it, if you do (or if you don't) please review!**

**El x

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**

It was, Sarah Jane mused as she drove cautiously through the dark, a rather bizarre experience to fear something she couldn't see. Generally in times of peril sight was her greatest weapon: the flicker of an unspoken exchange, the stir of a hand as it reached for a gun, the widened eyes of an enemy that doesn't really have the nerve to push the button, all observations that had saved her life. But now, now she was walking into the battlefield blindfolded, and that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

Rani was restless as they drove, constantly, futilely, twisting in her seat to watch the invisible girl. She stared until her neck cricked but all she could see was Luke's hand clutching thin air in the warm glow of the car's interior lighting. This frustrated her, she had the quick eyes of a journalist and she had seen a slight look of recognition pass across Sarah Jane's face, and though she had stayed silent, Rani knew that Sarah Jane had seen, or at least sensed, the girl. It tormented Rani that she could see nothing, she felt humiliated by her incompetence, by her lack of vision in wake of Sarah Jane and Luke's power, she felt, not for the first time, inadequate, and it ate away at her.

A feeling of calm had settled over Luke, which seemed to radiate to the girl. She had been terrified to leave the school, clamping Luke's hand in an ice-hot embrace. Walking across the car park her steps had been quick, emphasising her slow, shaky breaths. Luke had been unable to offer comfort as her eyes darted in the dark, her body tensed for the attack of unseen assailants. Now however, in the simple security of the car, she had calmed, though she never once let go of Luke's hand. As the steady rhythm soothed her, she sunk low in her seat and lightly rested her head against Luke's arm. His first instinct was to shy away, but watching the easy look of content on her face he relaxed, and was overcome by a feeling he had never experienced before. He wanted to protect her. It was so different to the feeling of protectiveness he had for his mum or his friends. He wanted to protect her because she needed protecting, and he knew without thinking that he would do anything to keep her safe. Watching her small form rise and fall with each breath he smiled, softly, to himself, and enjoyed the all-consuming freedom the emotion gave him.

~*~

Against the softly lit silent world of the car, the sudden noise and bright light of the hallway as they entered the house was a harsh comparison. They migrated into the kitchen and the kettle was boiled, but, impatient for answers, they had soon moved up to the attic, and settled themselves about the place before the tea had cooled enough to drink. Rani sat, feet tucked under her on the floor, Sarah Jane pulled up the computer chair and Luke sat the girl down on the sofa.

"Mr Smith we need you." Sarah Jane softly called for the Xylok's assistance.

The computer's fanfare was far too gaudy for the almost sombre atmosphere that night had brought, and Mr Smith's ever bright voice replied, "Good evening Sarah Jane, Luke, Rani, are you aware that it is 11:53pm on a school night?"

"Yes, Mr Smith, quite aware, and that is why we would like you to be brief. Could you please scan our friend?"

Luke guided the girl to the centre of the floor, but didn't leave her side. Mr Smith obliged and, within a matter of minutes, replied. "Your friend is human female, aged 8 years and 3 months, approximate height 4'9, approximate weight-"

"Thank you, Mr Smith," Sarah Jane cut in exasperatedly muttering, "brevity was called for I believe," before returning to her normal volume and addressing the computer directly, "but how can she be human?"

Rani added, stating the obvious, "We can't see her!"  
Meanwhile Luke watched the girl with concern, worried of the effect everything was having on her, in turn she watched Mr Smith's patterns serenely, seemingly uncaring, unaware even, of her surroundings.

"Your inability to see the girl," Mr Smith responded in infuriating cheerfulness, "could be a result of the other life-force I am detecting in the room."

Luke, Sarah Jane and Rani jolted and began comically looking about themselves for the fifth person.

Mr Smith continued to speak, and the group turned to him desperate for further understanding, "The life force is a member of the Shaan race," a fact file appeared on his screen listing facts and figures and displaying a bizarre spinning image of a flickering shape that appeared to be made of light.

"But what are the Shaan? And why can't we see it?"

Mr Smith's reply was instantaneous, "The Shaan are creatures formed entirely from oscillations, they have no definite form, colour, size or appearance in general, and as a result of the ability to change the wavelengths they produce can become completely undetectable to any species."

Rani frowned, trying to follow Mr Smith's explanation, "All I got there was wavelengths, how does that mean we can't see it?"

Luke replied, answering Rani's question but looking to Mr Smith for confirmation, "The Shaan are made out of waves, and because they can change the type of waves they can appear invisible to different species. It's like how bats can hear things we can't, bats are adapted to pick up waves of a higher frequency than we are. This Shaan has morphed its waves into something completely undetectable to humans, probably at a higher frequency than anything else on Earth."

"You are correct Luke."

For Sarah Jane the science wasn't important, there was only one question she cared about, "But are they dangerous Mr Smith?"

"Not at all Sarah Jane, the Shaan are very peaceful creatures. The Shaan feed on emotion," Sarah Jane didn't like the sound of that, she had a small black box that proved creatures that fed on emotion were trouble, "but they can do nothing do directly affect emotion, and only feed on bad emotions which actually has a positive effect on the recipient. In some hospitals in their home region, the Beta Galaxy, Shaan are employed as a living painkiller, they feed on patients' pain, which is sustenance for the Shaan and dulls the pain for the patient. The Shaan's relationship has always been completely mutualistic."

Satisfied by the answer, and finally reassured that her family were in no danger, Sarah Jane realised something odd in Mr Smith's information, "Beta? But that's light-years away, how on earth has one ended up here?"

Mr Smith was finally faced with a question he did not have an answer to and the room fell silent in a cloud of thought.

Rani broke the silence, "Well there's only one thing to do," the others looked to her enquiringly, "it's like you said Sarah Jane, ask."

Sarah Jane couldn't help but smile at the quickness of her apprentice, but Luke had raced forward and frowned, "But we can't speak to the Shaan, you can't even see her."

Mr Smith cut in, "I believe I can help with that Luke, please stand back." Reluctantly Luke let go of April's hand and stepped ever so slightly away from her, he watched as a green pulse was fired at her from somewhere within Mr Smith.

Slowly, gradually a figure appeared before Rani and Sarah Jane, and as Luke watched their reactions, he understood what was happening. "Mr Smith is magnifying the Shaan's signal, he's turning it into something we can pick up, and because April and the Shaan are one we can see her too."

Finally, she stood before all of them, a small pale girl of eight, with large brown eyes and mousy brown hair pulled away from her face in a ponytail. She wore a simple grey pinafore with white knee length socks and heavy brown leather shoes. She wasn't smiling, but her expression was not one of pain, she looked content, her wide eyes that took in every detail betraying her curiosity.

"Oh my," Sarah Jane gasped, aware for the first time of the frailty of the young girl.

Rani's observation was a little more trivial, "How did you think she was at our school Luke? Her uniform's nothing like ours!"

Luke looked a little shamed, but decided there were more pressing things at hand. Taking her small hand in his he introduced her, first to his mum, and then to Rani.

"Hello," Sarah Jane said, bending to look the girl in the eyes, "My name is Sarah Jane Smith, what's yours?"

The girl looked puzzled, and replied in a small voice, "I can't remember"

If Sarah Jane was at all taken aback by this she didn't let it show, and instead said, "Well, how about for now we call you April, would you mind that?"

April shook her head and smiled shyly.

Rani greeted her equally as gently, saying, in a voice reserved for times like these, "I'm Rani; it's nice to meet you."

The girl smiled again but suddenly her face was clouded, and her voice took on a panicked tone, "I need to find my Father."

"It's okay," Rani attempted to reassure her, "we'll help you."

"But," Sarah Jane interjected, as she noticed the slight yawn Luke let out and the way Rani's eyelids were drooping, "tonight we need to sleep. We will help you tomorrow."

The mundanities of ordinary life took both Rani and Luke by surprise, they had become so caught up in the excitement, however neither objected to Sarah Jane's decision.

The girl seemed content with the decision, and nodded, saying in a quiet voice, "Thank you."

It was at this point that Mr Smith felt the need to add to the conversation, "Sarah Jane, can I point out that the Shaan do not sleep; I believe April does not need to sleep."

"Ah, well is it ok if I leave April up here with you Mr Smith, just to make sure she's alright while we sleep."

"Of course Sarah Jane."

Crouching to make eye contact for a final time Sarah Jane spoke to April, "We're going to sleep downstairs, will you be ok to stay up here with Mr Smith?"

The girl looked up at Luke fearfully and he quickly suggested, "Why don't I sleep up here on the sofa, mum. Rani should probably sleep over anyway to stop Mr Chandra being suspicious, so she can take my bed. It's not a problem."

Sarah Jane looked from the now reassured girl, to her eager son and nodded. "As long as you get some sleep."

It was decided, and very soon Rani, Luke and Sarah Jane were sleeping in their respective beds. In the quiet of the attic; where Luke's rhythmic breathing and Mr Smith's cheerful whirring were the only noise; the little girl smiled to herself as she played on a computer game Luke had shown her and for the night at least, she was allowed to forget the horrors of her quest.


	11. Catching up

**Chapter 11, hope you like it. Think this story's getting close to being done. But I was thinking about continuing to write in this style - pretty close to the show's format, y'know find an alien, destroy an alien etc. got a few more ideas. That way I can resolve the whole Luke/Maria thing over a longer period of time rather than rushing through it and coming up with an unbelievable solution. Tell me what you think; seriously if you wish I'd just stop posting crap tell me! Oh one other thing, there is a serious inconsistency at the start with the whole curtseying thing. I've finally got my plot sorted and that timescale doesn't make sense, so could you just sorta ignore it? Really sorry, it comes from not planning, which I know is the ultimate sin and I will not do in the future. Wow, long A/N, sorry 'bout that I'll shut up now. Hope you enjoy and please, please R&R coz I love 'em. =P**

**El x

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**

Having put off waking as long as possible, Luke Smith groggily rolled over and slowly opened his eyes in the morning light-

"Whaaaahhhh, what the-"

Jumping up and then quickly propelling himself backwards with his hands Luke practically cowered from the figure. The cause of all the fuss? A small girl's brown eyes.

After blinking a few times and slowly remembering the events of the previous night Luke eventually slowed his beating heart, and, with red cheeks, apologised to April, who's intrusive eyes were now wide with shock, and softly explained that she "Had startled me, that's all."

Grabbing his hoodie from the floor he lead April down to the kitchen, where Rani and Sarah Jane were already up and looking civilised, joking about some article in the paper.

"Morning Luke, April." Sarah Jane greeted cheerfully, the concern of the previous night seemingly non-existent in light of a good night's sleep.

"Morning." Luke mumbled, before, in his zombie-like state, managing to pour milk on the floor, not his cereal, and proceeding to scowl at Rani as she choked on her toast laughing.

April meanwhile hovered in the doorway, looking a little lost without Luke's guidance. Sarah Jane's maternal instinct kicked in and she asked kindly, "Will you be eating breakfast with us April?"

She got only a shake of the head in reply, but carried on regardless, "Well at least sit down, here between me and Luke."

April did as she was told, and sat, back straight at the table, watching without comment, the ritual that is breakfast.

Looking up at the clock and realising the time, Luke left the kitchen with a hurried explanation of, "Going for a shower."

Sarah Jane bit back a comment about making sure he shut the shower door afterwards, she was making a conscious effort not to become a nagging mother, and turned to her guest once more.

"Luke, Rani and Clyde – who you haven't met yet – will be going to school soon. They'll try and find out about your father there, and you can stay at home with me and we'll ask Mr Smith a few questions, is that ok?"

April nodded, seeming to perk up at the mention of her father. As an afterthought she added, "His name is Theodore Harlington."

"I'll ask my dad if he's ever taught at the school, he's got some staff lists that go way back in his office," Rani offered with a small smile. She was finding the whole alien-hospitality thing a little difficult; aliens with guns – no problem, but aliens at the breakfast table, well that one had Rani stumped. There was a lull in conversation as Sarah Jane busied herself unloading the dishwasher, Rani watched the news and April watched Rani watching the news.

Suddenly, in a whirlwind of banging doors, pounding feet and "Morning campers," Clyde arrived.

Sitting himself at the breakfast table, he took a bite out of Rani's toast before asking, spraying crumbs everywhere, "What did I miss last night?"

It was at this point that he noticed April, washing his toast down with a swig of Rani's orange juice he swallowed quickly and held out his hand saying, "Hi, I'm Clyde, the cool one."

April merely stared at his hand in confusion and Sarah Jane quickly came to her aid, placing her hands on April's shoulders she stood behind her and leaned over her, "This is _April, _Clyde."

"Nice to meet you Ap- Hang on April? As in Luke's invisible girl April?" Clyde did a cartoon double take, much to the amusement of Rani. "What _did_ I miss?" he repeated.

"What did who miss?" Luke asked appearing in the doorway in school uniform, hair still wet.

"You can explain on the way to school," Sarah Jane said, as she handed Luke a Tupperware box and his rucksack, ruffling his sopping hair and frowning she pecked him on the cheek and ushered him into the hallway. Clyde grabbed his bag, went for a last bite of Rani's toast, which she snatched before he took it, saluted to April saying, "Laters" and followed Luke. Rani was last to leave, piling their breakfast dishes, and saying goodbye to April. Once in the hall Sarah Jane said in a hushed tone, "There's still a lot we need to know about April, do what you can at school, but don't draw attention to yourself, especially you Clyde. I'll be here all day if you need me, have a good day."

The three chorused goodbye and Luke shouted, "Bye April," before the teens finally left the house.

~*~

"Come on then, fill me in, how come I can see April?" Clyde asked as soon as they were out the door.

"Well-"

"-No hang on, wait, I want it from the beginning, I saved your butts and then…" Clyde interrupted, gesturing for them to continue.

"Ok so-"

"-Actually just get to the good part, I haven't got time for once upon a times"

"Fine, she's-"

"-Come to think of it, it'll make more sense if you just start from the beginning." Luke was yet to pick up on Clyde's smirk, and would have continued to try and begin recounting the story if Rani had not interrupted him.

"CLYDE! SHUT UP!" she yelled, making her point by whacking him with her school bag; smiling sweetly at Luke she said, "As you were saying."

With warning glares from Rani keeping Clyde quiet Luke began again, finally understanding Clyde's attempt to 'wind him up'.

"So when you left-"

Ironically it was Rani who interrupted this time, "-yeah, what the hell were you thinking, going off like that?"

"Sheesh, talk about gratitude, if you hadn't noticed Miss Chandra _I _was saving you from your dad, doing the noble, self-sacrificial thing and playing on the fact that he's always gonna hate me, but he'd never let you see us again if he caught you?"

"Aww, Clyde I'm touched, are you saying you'd actually be upset if I wasn't allowed to see you?" Rani mocked, but there was affection in her voice that betrayed her real gratitude for Clyde's act.

Clyde scoffed, "No, if you left us it would just be one less person for me to save, nah, I just, y'know, thought Luke'd be all soppy about it and can't have him freaking out when there's maths homework to be done can we?"

Luke looked a little offended at being called soppy, and would have protested that he never actually did Clyde's homework only helped him, when Rani suddenly wrapped her arms around Clyde's waist and pecked him on the cheek.

"Clyde Langer, I do believe you care" she grinned, and went on to whisper, "thanks."

Clyde looked at Luke triumphantly and replied cockily, "If this is what being the hero gets I could definitely get used to it."

Rani, suddenly aware of the fact she hadn't let go of Clyde, stepped away from him prayed he wouldn't see her reddened cheeks before lightly punched him on the shoulder saying, "So what was your punishment anyway?"

Clyde looked uncomfortable, and muttered, "Just a couple of weeks of detention." Seeing the other's disbelieving faces he changed the topic, "So Lukey boy am I gonna have to wait all day to find out what happened last night?"

Realising the futility of responding, Luke simply began to recount the night's adventure with a resigned sigh. As soon as he had finished Clyde began bombarding them with questions, "I don't get it, it still doesn't explain why only Luke could see her at first?"

"And Sarah Jane." Rani mused aloud.

"What?" Luke questioned a puzzled look on his face.

"Oh I just think Sarah Jane sensed April, that's all, she seemed to feel her presence if nothing else." Rani replied shrugging off the question.

"So how come Luke could see her and Sarah Jane could sense her?" Clyde summarised the question with uncharacteristic astuteness.

There was a thoughtful silence before Luke responded, "Perception."

"What?" Came the simultaneous reply.

"Well, not to blow my own trombone or anything," Clyde slapped his forehead but didn't correct him, "Mum said I've got heightened senses what with being the archetype, so I'm more perceptive, yeah? And Mum's been all over with the Doctor, experienced so much, that surely her perception's been increased above normal people's? So, it makes sense that we're both a bit more in tune with the frequency the Shaan's working at."

"By Jove I think he's got it." Clyde replied in a husky gentleman's tone, taking a drag from an imaginary pipe and swaggering about the pavement.

Rani smiled but continued regardless "Ok, so we know why you can see her, but what I don't get is why the Shaan kept April hidden, why is it staying inside her?"

"I think I know that one too," Luke replied, "See I was talking to Mr Smith last night-"

"Ha! I knew you didn't go straight to sleep." Rani pointed an accusing finger, "Could've got me before you went investigating with Mr Smith."

Luke had the good grace to look a little ashamed, and muttered something about 'not wanting to wake his mum', and 'couldn't sleep with April there' before continuing, "So anyway, Mr Smith said that the Shaan can only move into people's bodies with permission, and they don't like staying out of bodies for too long. Plus he said that the Shaan that's in April is only young, and he doesn't think it's got control over its wave manipulation yet."

Clyde looked lost, "So…?"

"So," Luke was eager to explain, "The Shaan is in April, and it's at a frequency that's invisible to humans, which makes April invisible and _silent_ too, and because of that it can't approach people to request permission to enter their mind, coz it can't make a noise that humans can detect, so until now it's been pretty much stuck inside April." Luke finished triumphantly.

"Brilliant Luke!" Rani enthused.

Clyde slapped him on the back and said, "You got to admit the boy's got skills."

Rani's mind was racing ahead, "So we need to ask the Shaan to leave April, so we can find her dad and send her home, and then it can inhabit one of us for a while until we can figure out how to get _it _home too!"

Clyde merely grimaced, "No alien creep's inhabiting my body, no matter how nice it is."

"It's not gonna take you over or anything, just sort of camp in your mind for a bit." Rani reassured, but she didn't look too keen on the idea herself. As they rounded the corner of the school gates they were on their ninth game of rock, paper, scissors to decided who'd play host to the Shaan and the decision at that point was that Sarah Jane could do it. Luke shook his head with a smile, "Poor mum doesn't know what she's got herself into."


	12. Oh automaton

**Just to say thanks for all the reviews, they really make me =)**

**Erm so yup next chapter bit of a cliffy just to keep you in suspense. Apologies for the formatting on the previous chapter got my spacing mixed up. Anyways thanks for reading, reviews are **_**always**_** nice…**

**El x**

After seeing the kids off, Sarah Jane quickly set about her morning routine. Routine, there's a word she never thought she'd find comfort in, travelling with the Doctor, the closest she got to routine was the perpetual danger, and even that wasn't consistent. But now, with a child, a family, a job, a _life_, routine was just something else Sarah Jane had had to relearn, and though it surprised her, she really didn't mind.

Loading the dishwasher with contented ease, she moved around the kitchen briskly, half listening to the news and half watching out for April, who trailed behind her with wide puppy eyes that only added to the spaniel-esque image. Kitchen tidy, she made herself a cup of tea, grabbed the morning paper and made her daily ascent to the attic.

"Good morning Mr Smith."

"Good morning Sarah Jane."

"Anything on the daily scan Mr Smith?"

"All scans are clear Sarah Jane."

More than a little relieved, Sarah Jane settled herself in her computer chair, and switched on the computer. Suddenly she felt something against her foot.

Without looking away from the screen she said, "I haven't forgotten you K-9; just let me get myself sorted." After a few minutes she bent down and patted the small tin dog's head, "Good morning K-9, all systems operating at maximum efficiency I hope?"

"Good morning mistress. Affirmative, I am well, how are you?"

Sarah Jane chuckled, her robot dog was finally mastering small talk, "I'm very well K-9, now I have a task I would like you to perform, could you please attend to April?"

"Affirmative mistress." Sarah Jane couldn't be sure but she thought there was an added smugness to his robotic tone. The distinctly put-out whirr that came from Mr Smith confirmed her suspicions and she sighed, the sibling rivalry in the attic was getting unbearable.

"I have a task for you too Mr Smith, could you please search for anybody registered under the name Theodore Harlington in a 100 mile radius."

"Of course Sarah Jane."

Having finally satisfied the two automatons in her life Sarah Jane spoke to April softly. "Ok, my computer is searching for you father, but is there anything else you can remember?"

The little girl closed her eyes tight and seemed to be willing an answer with all her might, but eventually she gave up and shook her head sadly.

Sarah Jane smiled reassuringly, it was always going to be a long shot - the current theory being that the Shaan had somehow caused April to lose her memory - but it was worth a try.

Shaking her head and putting further musings out of her mind, she introduced April to K-9 and the small girl was soon completely taken with all of his canine charm.

Taking a sip of her tea, she faced the computer once more and quickly pulled up the missing children's site. After entering in April's details she waited with baited breath as the sand timer span, but of the six results she did get, none of the girls looked like April. Never one to lose hope Sarah Jane simply moved on to the online newspaper archives, about to type in her search criteria she was startled by a sudden beeping and a flashing message.

_You have an incoming call..._

All fingers and thumbs, Sarah Jane fumbled for the button that would stop the terrible beeping. She'd never really understood this new video conferencing, but she refused to swallow her pride and ask Luke to teach her, at least not with Clyde present, he had quite enough ammo for his ageist jibes as it was.

Finally finding the right button a smiling Maria appeared, greeting her with her usual bubbly tone, "Hey Sarah Jane, how are you?"

Sarah Jane went to push the hair out of her face and was surprised to register the movement on the screen, she'd forgotten this thing had webcam, suddenly aware of her rather bedraggled morning appearance she finally replied – mentally stopping herself from leaning right close to the microphone as she spoke – "Morning love, I'm fine thanks, how are things over there?"

"They're great, Dad's finally getting the hang of the American vocabulary and I've just got round to unpacking the last boxes."

Noticing the moon outside Maria's bedroom window Sarah Jane did the maths and worked out the time in America, "Maria what are you doing up at five o'clock in the morning?" Sarah Jane couldn't help the maternal concern that crept into her voice.

"Oh, I couldn't sleep that's all, don't think my body clock'll ever get use to the time difference." She smiled, but the way she nervously fiddled with her hair betrayed her real feelings. "Um," she bit her lip, "is Luke there?"

It was the explanation Sarah Jane was looking for, and she was truly sorry to have to explain to Maria, "I'm sorry love, he's at school."

The disappointment on her face was clear to see, even if it was just a grainy computer image, "Yeah, course, silly me, I'm always getting the time difference wrong, not to worry."

She faded off and Sarah Jane took her chance, "Is everything alright with you two?"

"Yeah," Maria answered before looking away from the camera and muttering, "I just miss him that's all." She quickly continued, "And you and Clyde and Mum and the rain."

Sarah Jane chuckled, "Oh I don't think I could ever miss the rain. But Luke and Clyde and Rani," she noticed a small flinch from Maria at the name, "they'll be back from school later, you can talk to them then."

"Yeah, sure, only if they're not busy though, anything alien happening over there?"

Sarah Jane carefully picked up the webcam and pointed it to where April was giggling for the first time as K-9 tried to catch his tail, "She's got an alien inside her that's caused her to lose her memories and we're trying to find her dad, but other than that, pretty quiet really"

Maria as ever was full of concern, but, frustratingly for her, being the other side of the world, there was nothing she could do. After offering her advice and a greeting for the teens Sarah Jane finally convinced her to go back to bed, and she said goodbye. Just before she went Sarah Jane said, "We all miss you, you're irreplaceable you do know that don't you?"

Maria gave a small smile and a nod in return and sighed, "You're irreplaceable too, and I miss you all heaps, but I promise we'll visit soon." As she turned off the camera, Sarah Jane mused that it had sounded more like Maria was trying to convince herself that.

After her chat she'd had an idea and turning to speak to April she asked, "April, would I be allowed speak to your friend, the one in your mind, is that ok?"

April's eyes widened in fear and she quickly scanned the room, Sarah Jane guessed what she was looking for, understanding Luke's absence the young girl gave a determined shake of her head, pleading eyes winning Sarah Jane over and making her wait until later in the afternoon. April went back to playing with K-9 and Sarah Jane went back to her computer.

"Sarah Jane, I have widened the search to a 200 mile radius," she noted Mr Smith's boastful tone and shook her head with a smile, "however there has been no match."

Foiled again, Sarah Jane thanked Mr Smith and returned to her computer once more. Typing 'Harlington' quickly into the newspaper archive search box she'd clicked 'search' before she'd realised her mistake. She was about to click the back button when the solitary search result caught her eye. She gasped and her blood ran cold.


	13. Girl talk

**Next chapter – not too long to wait? Though I can't promise any cliff-hanger resolution just yet =P As ever I just love those pretty little reviews, zey are mucho appreciated. **

**El x

* * *

**

"Aw come on Luke, Fielding loves you, just come with me to hand it in and then get him chatting about some geek thing and he'll forget to give me detention." Clyde was practically whining.

"Why didn't you just do it in time in the first place?" Luke received only a scowl in response. "Ok, ok, but this is the last time."

Rani chuckled to herself, guessing Luke would have done anything to put an end to Clyde's pathetic whining. "I'm going to stay here coz I really need to do this work, and I'll look after your bags if you like."

"Thanks." Was the typically polite reply from Luke.

"Yeah whatever, no nicking my lunch though yeah?" Was the equally typical reply from Clyde; Rani smacked his arm with her textbook and rolled her eyes.

The boys retreated, barely having stood up before the bickering began. "What do you mean some geek thing?"

"Well y'know mate, I tried to warn you black holes weren't cool."

"But they're fascinating…"

Smiling at their sibling-like bickering, Rani shook her head and returned to her work. Moments later, she was disturbed by a rather loud chirruping coming from the front pocket of Luke's bag. Normally Rani would have left it, but partly because the loud noise was attracting disapproving attention from the librarian and partly because it could be Sarah Jane with news about April, Rani grabbed it out of the bag. Flipping open the phone Rani failed to notice the caller ID and quickly answered, "Hello?"

"Hey…Luke?"

Rani had to stop herself from replying sarcastically in the affirmative, and, remembering that this wasn't her phone after all, replied as politely as possible, "Err, no, this is Rani."

Silence. Then, "Oh."

Rani again had to her hold herself back, this time from scoffing, 'oh' was said in such disdain that the caller suddenly became very clear, only one girl could hear her name and hate her that much. "Is this Maria by any chance?"

"Yeah, yeah it is," the malicious tone of Maria's voice had gone, but there was an underlying assertion in her voice, as though she should have continued, "you got a problem with that?"

"Why are you answering Luke's phone?"

Rani was jolted from musings over Maria's chavy side, and took a moment to respond. "Err, well Luke's not here at the mo…obviously, and I'm in the library, and the phone was loud…and Sarah Jane…and some alien…you're probably used to that…might call us, and, err… sorry." Rani bit her lip, had she just apologised for answering his phone?

It obviously caught Maria off guard, she replied hesitantly, "Oh, it's err not a problem?" she finished as though she wasn't quite sure.

There was a silence. One of those long phone silences, with neither knowing quite what small talk to employ, and both looking desperately about themselves for inspiration. And of course, they both began speaking at once.

"So how's Ameri-"

"Look, are you and Luk-"

And then answered simultaneously,

"Oh it's err goo-"

"What?"

Unsurprisingly the second topic became the conversation focus, as Rani repeated incredulously, "What?!"

There was another long pause, and Maria audibly took a breath, "Are you and Luke seeing each other?"

Rani could practically hear her chewing her lip nervously, and, realising the sensitivity of the situation, stopped herself from laughing. "Me and Luke?... Luke and me?... Dating? No… No, no really no."

"Alright, no need to sound so disgusted." Maria replied sharply.

Rani couldn't keep the laugh out of her voice this time, "Sorry, it's just, I think of Luke more like a brother than anything else, but," a sly tone crept into Rani's voice, "am I right to assume that there's something between you and…?" She left the question hanging, inadvertently making the whole thing sound more sordid.

Maria sighed, "No, not really, no, I mean we're on different sides of the planet, and he never thought of me like that…"

Rani slipped easily into comforting girlfriend mode, despite hardly knowing Maria. "Are you sure, coz I tell you if Luke ain't pining for someone, well, Slitheen ain't defeated by vinegar."

Maria laughed at their common knowledge, and then eagerly replied, "Do you think so?"

"Sure, he never stops talking about you, I swear even Mr Smith's noticed, and in fact I'm sure he muttered something about you having a boyfriend."

"What? Oh god I hope he hasn't got confused, you know Luke, sometimes he can be so…dumb."

Rani laughed loudly and received a death stare from the elderly librarian, "Yeah I know what you mean. But no, you guys should talk, sort things out, might put a smile back on his face."

Maria beamed down the phone. "Yeah, yeah I will, thanks Rani, and look I'm really sorry if I came across as, a bit of a bitch, probably a bit," she lowered her voice slightly, "jealous."

"Don't worry about it, if it's any consolation I hated you for a bit too." There was a silence and Rani worried she'd said too much, before she heard loud laughing. Smiling she continued, "Anyway I probably better go, I'm guessing you don't want Luke knowing about this little conversation, and I don't really want the boys bursting in on me on his phone, but good luck yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks, and I'll speak to you soon, it'll be refreshing to get another girl's perspective on the whole alien thing. Nice speaking to you."

"You too, bye."

"Bye."

And the phone went dead; Rani grinned and was stuffing the phone back in Luke's bag when the pair appeared.

"Hey Rani, what are you doing?"

Rani span round quickly, and guiltily. "Oh hey, you were quick, I was erm, just, getting some dust off your bag." She flapped at the bag a couple of times, murmuring before fading off, "See dust, dusty, dusty, bag…"

She hastily retreated to her seat, and buried her head in her books, refusing to look up in case her flaming cheeks gave her away.

Clyde in all his intuitiveness knew something was going on, but decided to spare her and quiz her later…much more opportunities for torture that way. Luke frowned for a couple of moments then gave up, noting it as 'just one of those things he'd never understand'. Finally the group descended into silence – much to the librarian's annoyance, she'd been quite looking forward to booting the hooligans out of her library.


	14. Revelations

**Sorry for ridiculously long update time, shan't bore you with excuses, but will say, I didn't get a chance to get this betad, so any mistakes – my bad. Hope you enjoy and it's not too gory. I know I don't deserve 'em, but I do love those reviews. **

**El x

* * *

**

Though the three teens were eager to see April, mid-afternoon starvation had diverted their course up to the attic in search of food in the kitchen; Luke had of course offered the usual yelled greeting of "We're home mum!"

It was when she still hadn't replied after the third and increasingly panicked cry of "Mum!?" that they'd began running, taking the stairs two at a time with hearts beating too fast. Luke had reached the door first, love for his mum giving him the energy to push himself just a little faster, that and being perfectly designed to perform all tasks. He burst through the attic door, dreading what he'd see…

And she was just there, sat on the sofa gazing at the little girl who lay on her stomach with her legs in the air as she poured over a book of the stars. The others arrived as Luke made to go over to her, Clyde and Rani hung back, strangely shaken by the sight of Sarah Jane so vulnerable. Luke went forward and gently touched her shoulder, a slight fear in his voice as he whispered, "Mum?"

She looked away then and her eyes glistened with tears she refused to let fall. Looking up at him with a watery smile she murmured, "Luke." He sat down and embraced her resting her head against his shoulder and gently stroking her hair, giving her the silence she needed to compose herself.

Finally after several long minutes; in which Rani had made a cup of sugary tea and Clyde had sworn under his breath several times that "he'd kill 'em"; Sarah Jane took a deep shuddering sigh and pulled away from her son. Taking the tea with a smile of gratitude she immediately apologised, "I'm so sorry, I must have had you all so worried, but I'm fine," Luke nor Clyde seemed ready to accept this so she repeated with more strength in her voice, "honestly I'm fine, don't know what's got into me, going all soppy like that."

"Judging from the current hormone levels in the room, I would suggest that you were perhaps experiencing the first sign of the men-" Mr Smith paused, finally registering Rani's frantic hand signals from behind Sarah Jane's back, "Is something the matter Rani?"

Sarah Jane turned to face her and Rani blushed furiously, gabbling to compensate, "Me? Oh nothing I was just very hot, anybody get that, must have been a hot flush, I mean breeze, I mean err, or something," she could have slapped herself, Sarah Jane merely raised an eyebrow in response and she continued, "but what I mean to say is that you're probably just tired, my Mum always says things look worse when you're tired." She finished with what she hoped was a comforting smile.

Shaking her head Sarah Jane replied, "You're probably right, it was a late night the other night, and, well I'm not as young as I used to be. I guess I'm just a bit emotional and it just got to me more than usual."

"But what happened mum?" Luke asked the concern still obvious.

Sarah Jane sighed again, "It's April. You see I was doing some research, checking to see if she's been reported in any newspapers. And she has."

"But that's brilliant" Rani interrupted, "we can get her back to her parents in no time."

"Mr Smith open the webpage" was all Sarah Jane said in reply, but the article displayed was enough to silence all questions.

On the front page of the Ealing Echo a headline read "YOUNG GIRL SHOT DEAD" The article went on to detail that, in the early hours of the 17th May 1940, the body of a young girl had been discovered on the steps of the Park Vale Army Barracks. Later reports had confirmed that the young girl was Alice May Harlington only child of Professor Theodore Harlington.

Eventually all eyes turned to the little girl who lay on the floor, tracing her fingers round the rings of Saturn, the little girl that had suffered a fatal bullet wound to the head seventy years ago.


End file.
